Therapy? - Album By Album

 

Therapy? were arguably one of the first proper rock bands your correspondent became a fan of. Forming in Larne, Northern Ireland in 1990, their ferocious early albums were raw as hell with frontman Andy Cairns' vocals barely containing the chaos thrashing around beneath them. However, as they started to slowly refine the formula, they quickly became darlings of both Kerrang! and the NME (albeit briefly with the latter) and gained a major chart breakthrough when the ferocious Screamager catapulted them into the Top 10 in early 1993. It was a few months later though that your correspondent became a fan with the Opal Mantra EP which crashed into the Top 20. Mixing the angst of grunge with a heavier punkier sound, their sound was memorably described by one journo at the time as "like techno music played by guitars which ate people and with better tunes".

I've had my ups and downs with Therapy? through the years - following a number of efforts to try and recapture the angry buzzsaw pop-punk of their biggest selling album Troublegum, they went through what can best be described as something of a "difficult period" in the late noughties and early teens, going back to their noise-rock roots and putting out a trio of albums which were borderline unlistenable in places. However, 2015's Disquiet was a real return to form with the group revisiting the themes of their golden years and putting out their strongest effort for well over a decade. With the group looking a lot more re-energised in the live arena too, it was like welcoming an old friend back from their travels.

Therapy?'s official biography So Much For The Thirty Year Plan (a sly play on their original greatest hits album So Much For The Ten Year Plan released back in 2000) is due out this year and I thought it'd be a good opportunity to look back on the highs and lows of their recording career. From pop-punk through to sheer Big Black style noise terrorism, this is a look back at all fifteen Therapy? albums ranked from (in this correspodent's opinion at least) worst to best. 

15. One Cure Fits All (2006)

If Therapy's early noughties albums varied a lot in both style and how well they were received by the critics then the second half of the decade saw them veer off into what was at the time described as a "return to their roots". Unfortunately One Cure Fits All is just a joyless slog of a listen, lacking not only the tunes of its predecessors but also the sheer venom of Babyteeth and Pleasuredeath, the albums it was supposed to recall. You can see what the band were aiming for here but this really is an absolute trial to listen to and just edges out the two albums that followed it as my least favourite Therapy? album.

14. Crooked Timber (2009)

The second of Therapy?'s "difficult" trilogy, there's at least a darkness to Crooked Timber (written by Cairns while recovering from a serious illness) that makes it a creepy, if not particularly beguiling, listen. Certainly the broodingly sinister Clowns Galore and I Told You I Was Ill have a dark humour to them but by and large this is an incredibly difficult album to get into (although Cairns recently put it down as his second favourite so it's obviously got a big personal meaning for him). There's some rewards if you're willing to really persevere with it but I suspect most people will have given up long before they find them.

13. A Brief Crack Of Light (2012)

I have to be honest, following the disappointing One Cure Fits All and Crooked Timber, I'd pretty much lost interest in Therapy? by this point and A Brief Crack Of Light remains the one album of theirs to date I didn't actually buy, instead borrowing my girlfriend (now wife)'s copy and listening to it that way. Suffice to say that it didn't exactly encourage me to start following them again but I guess there's an argument that this is maybe one that's ripe for revisiting. Unlike One Cure Fits All, it at least has a couple of good tracks such as Living In The Shadow Of A Terrible Thing and Get Your Dead Hand Off My Shoulder but all in all it just kind of comes and goes without really affecting you too much.

12. Semi-Detached (1998)

After the twin highs of Troublegum and Infernal Love and the line-up instability that followed with long-time drummer Fyfe Ewing leaving to be replaced by Graham Hopkins, it was maybe a bit inevitable that Semi-Detached would feel like a bit of a disappointment, kind of sounding like a halfway house between the two but not quite sure which direction it wanted to go in. Church Of Noise and Lonely Cryin' Only are two suitably punchy singles which both breached the lower end of the Top 40 and there's a few other good ones on here as well such as the paranoid Black Eye Purple Sky and Heaven's Gate but there's also quite a bit of filler as well and you get the sense that the band are phoning it in a bit in places. The good bits here are worth checking out but be prepared to use the skip button a bit as well...

11. High Anxiety (2003)

After the poorly received Shameless album, High Anxiety was touted as a more back to basics approach from Therapy? with the group slimming back down to a three-piece due to guitarist/cellist Martin McCarrick leaving and Neil Cooper (formerly of Cable) replacing Graham Hopkins on the drums. It has its moments such as the menacing Nobody Here But Us, the pop-punk stylings of Watch You Go and the epic closer Rust but again suffers a bit from filler issues. Decent enough but Therapy? have done better.

10. Babyteeth (1991)

Therapy?'s debut mini-album is the sound of the band at their rawest. While it's not an easy listen there's definitely something about the Big Black style sheer ferocity of it that draws you in with the likes of the lurching Skyward and the ferocious Dancin' With Manson packing a real punch. A slow burner.

9. Cleave (2018)

After the return to more tuneful pastures that was Disquiet it was perhaps inevitable that the follow-up would see Therapy? taking a more wilfully difficult route again. Yet Cleave manages to hit the nail on the head a lot better than any of their late noughties efforts did with the likes of Callow and Wreck It Like Beckett being good additions to their back catalogue even if there's a couple of moments where it doesn't scan very well. It also gave them their highest charting album in 20 years.

8. Pleasuredeath (1992)

Pleasuredeath sees Therapy? slowly starting to get a handle on the sound that would eventually give them their big break on Troublegum. Yes, the likes of Skinning Pit and the brutal Shitkicker are just as vicious as their debut but with the furious but self-deprecating Potato Junkie they came up with their first genuine classic tune and it's still a live favourite today.

7. Never Apologise Never Explain (2004)

The best of Therapy?'s post-major label pre-Disquiet run of albums, Never Apologise Never Explain definitely isn't straightforward but the darkness and anger in here marks it out as more of a Suicide Pact Part 2 than anything else. Rise Up (Make Yourself Well) and Die Like A Motherfucker provide the aggression while the brooding Polar Bear brings the darkness and Rock You Monkeys is a scathing look at US imperialism. There's a little bit of filler in here but overall, Never Apologise Never Explain hits far more than it misses.

6. Disquiet (2015)

Disquiet was as unexpected as it was welcome. After three wilfully difficult bordering on unlistenable albums, it saw Therapy? consciously revisiting the angry themes of Troublegum but from a more middle aged perspective. Hence the venomous but tuneful likes of Tides, Still Hurts and Helpless Still Lost despite their obvious thematic links to earlier songs still ended up being some of the strongest material the group had put out for well over a decade. A proper return to form which still holds up well five years later.

5. Shameless (2001)

An album generally hated by the band (who were at the point of disintegration when they recorded it) and a sizeable chunk of their fanbase, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Shameless is an under-rated album because it shows Therapy? at their most accessible. Certainly the first side of this album (apart from the lumpen Dance) really is a great run of songs with I Am The Money, Gimme Back My Brain, Wicked Man, Joey and This One's For You all being fine stuff indeed, recalling the punk-pop with a vicious kick to it that comprised the best stuff on Troublegum and Infernal Love. It does unfortunately tail off a bit on side two but the above five songs alone are more than a good enough reason for you to check this one out.

4. Nurse (1992)

Nurse, Therapy?'s first full album, is the sound of a band who are literally on the verge of properly nailing their formula and acts as a bridge between the coruscating noise of their mini-albums and the full on tuneful assault of Troublegum. Teethgrinder takes an almost techno riff and runs with it to thrilling effect while Accelerator is a full throttle punk assault and the likes of Disgracelands, Neck Freak and Gone show a more measured side to the band's output. You could tell they were on the verge of greatness here.

3. Suicide Pact: You First (1999)

Following on from the disappointing Semi-Detached, Suicide Pact: You First saw Therapy? going back to their noise-rock roots but unlike subsequent efforts well and truly nailing it. This album takes the aggression of the early Therapy? mini-albums and puts a more beefed-up sound on it to devastating effect - Wall of Mouths, Little Tongues First, Hate Kill Destroy, Ten Year Plan and the vicious Jam Jar Jail represent some of the heaviest songs the band had done to date while the mournful Six Mile Water, the almost jazz-metal He's Not That Kind Of Girl and the chilling Sister showed off the more measured side to their output. Key to it all though is that mixed in with the heaviness are the tunes to keep you coming back - this may not be an album you "get" on first listen but persevere with it and it'll quickly become one of your favourites.

2. Infernal Love (1995)

Infernal Love was a real curveball - it would have been easy for Therapy? to simply make Troublegum Mk 2 after its predecessor's success but instead they went into musically more melodic but lyrically even darker territory with the arrival of cellist/guitarist Martin McCarrick expanding the band to a four-piece. The twin epics of A Moment of Clarity and the genuinely disturbing Me vs You are as bleak as they are surprising while Jude The Obscene and Misery provided the straight-up rock for those who needed some continuation from its predecessor. Infernal Love could almost be seen as Therapy?'s goth album and although it threw nearly everyone for a loop at the time, there's no denying it really has held up incredibly well over the years.

1. Troublegum (1994)

To tell the truth, for a long time Infernal Love was my favourite Therapy? album over its better known predecessor as the group seemed to go through a stage where they'd play a good seven or eight tracks from Troublegum every time I saw them live and practically ignore the rest of their back catalogue and it was starting to get dulled a bit by over-familiarity. With the live shows these days being a bit more balanced though, it's allowed me to appreciate this album again though and there's a good reason why it's still the band's biggest selling effort to date. Mixing the primal scream rage of Nirvana with the melodic sensibilities of Green Day, the group really did hit on a winning formula here and the likes of Knives, Screamager, Stop It You're Killing Me, Turn, Nowhere and Trigger Inside still sound devastating all these years later while the more measured Unbeliever and Lunacy Booth show the group at their (marginally) more mid-paced. All in all though, Troublegum remains a classic of its era and is undoubtedly the best place to start if you want to check Therapy?'s back catalogue out.